Health care replacement measure in jeopardy
President Trump tries to sway votes
WASHINGTON — The Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare hit serious trouble Wednesday, with more than 30 GOP House members — more than enough to sink it — refusing to back the proposal.
With the vote count looking uncertain at best, Speaker Paul D. Ryan, RWis., now must decide whether to push forward with plans to vote Thursday or put it off to allow more time for negotiations.
The White House stepped up its efforts to sway resistant lawmakers, including meetings with President Donald Trump and other officials.
So far, those appeals appeared unable to sway enough votes for the bill to gain a majority. Assuming that all of the chamber’s Democratic members vote against the bill, Republicans can afford to lose 21 from their ranks. The White House insisted, though, that Thursday’s vote was on, setting up a potential showdown.
“If you want to see Obamacare repealed and replaced, this is the vote, this is the time to act,” said Trump press secretary Sean Spicer. “There is no Plan B.”
Republicans hold a majority in the House and Senate but lawmakers have struggled to agree on legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare. Many conservatives say the bill doesn’t go far enough to repeal Obamacare, while some centrists fear it goes too far and will deprive too many people coverage. Conservatives claimed they have the votes to defeat the measure.
“We easily have enough votes — with a buffer — to kill this legislation unless it’s substantially improved,” Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said after a meeting of the conservative Freedom Caucus.
Caucus members appeared unmoved after a lengthy meeting at the White House with Vice President Mike Pence and other top administration officials, including White House advisers Stephen Bannon and Kellyanne Conway and chief of staff Reince Priebus. “We still haven’t seen the movement we want,” Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., said.
Mr. Brooks dismissed the session as a “rah-rah” meeting. “It’s ‘we really need you to help. It’s a part of a team effort. This is part of a sequence of events’ — those kinds of things, when really what we need is a health care bill that’s going to lower premiums for the people of America.”
Mr. Trump didn’t appear to do much better. The president met with 10 reluctant lawmakers brought in by the GOP whip’s team to win their support, and he met the day before with members of the more centrist Tuesday Group.
“I don’t know that anybody changed their mind,” said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Lancaster, a co-chairman of the Tuesday Group.
Later Wednesday, Mr. Dent released a statement saying he would be opposing the bill. “I hope that the House can step back from this vote and arbitrary deadline to focus on getting health care reform done right to ensure that American families have access to affordable health care.”
Conservative opponents are demanding, among other things, legislative language that would undo requirements for the level of benefits that insurers have to provide. Such rules are too restrictive, and looser policies would reduce premiums, they argue.
More moderate Republicans are worried that too many constituents will lose access to care because of the bill’s rollback of coverage under Medicaid, the safety net program for low-income, disabled and older Americans.